Golf tournament a character builder for Lester

Carrboro High School golfer Kaleb Lester would tell you he didn’t have his best stuff when he shot 81-85-78 against a field of international players in the World Junior Golf Series’ American Junior tournament just before Christmas.
“Not very good,” Lester said. “I had a bad second round.”
The 54-hole tournament from Dec. 20-22 at the World Golf Village on the Slammer & Squire Course in St. Augustine, Fla., featured 78 players from more than 20 countries.
Lester, a junior at Carrboro High with a +2.4 handicap, represented The First Tee of the Triangle, a nonprofit organization committed to exposing golf to youngsters who typically wouldn’t get into the game.
Lester was selected to participate in the American Junior because of how well he represented the core values of The First Tee earlier this year during the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Triangle First Tee director of development Pat Nelli said.
The American Junior was the final leg of the World Junior Golf Series, a nonprofit corporation with a goal of providing world-class tournament experiences for young golfers, who ideally used the occasion to develop the sort of soft skills that will help them in the marketplace.
The World Junior Golf Series endeavors to promote good citizenship, scholarship, benevolence, competitive spirit and outstanding ethical conduct through golf and other organized learning experiences.
Building strong character is a big deal at The First Tee, too.
One aspect of strong character is dealing with disappointment in a dignified way, and Lester is modeling that.
“Got to keep my head up,” Lester said.